'Wash. Post' Beefs Up Registration

By: E&P Staff The Washington Post wants to know more about you if you use the paper's Web site.

Washingtonpost.com said Tuesday that it will ask site users to register, providing specific job information, to access most of its stories. The Web site already asks for information such as age, gender and ZIP code. With the request for more information, users will now be asked title, job responsibilities, company size and type of industry.

According to a report in the Post, the increased demographic information allows media companies to charge more for advertising because, theoretically, ads can be better targeted to site visitors. Other papers, such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune already request similar information on their Web sites.

Just over 5 million people visited washingtonpost.com in December.

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive produces sites such as washingtonpost.com and Newsweek.MSNBC.com. The unit's revenue from online advertising rose 59% in 2003, according to a statement by the Washington Post Co.

"We are confident that this new registration initiative will help to continue the remarkable growth we've seen in ad revenue," Caroline Little, chief executive and publisher of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, said in a statement.